This month's infographic, Improving Healthcare Buildings with BIM, is brought to you by one of my very favorite companies, Autodesk. Just like infographics, BIM makes use of visualization techniques to convey a message in a more interesing way that makes ideas easier to understand. If you have an interesting infographic related to public works or any other topic…
Encouraging Dog Owners to Pick up Pet Waste
The video below was created by McCann Madrid for the Brunete Council in Spain to showcase their program for encouraging dog owners to clean up after their pets. It sounds like the town was having quite a problem with dog owners leaving their pet's waste lying everywhere. So they hired McCann to develop a program where…
Quick Stormwater Regulation Update in Illinois
Just wanted to post a few quick thoughts/information about the status of the recent efforts to impose additional stormwater regulations throughout Illinois. Currently the task force we wrote about last year (Illinois Considers New Stormwater Regulations) is still meeting to discuss the comments they received. They have been working on addressing and looking into the issues…
Using Social Media to Promote Safety Around Trains
Melbourne Metro, a transit service based in Australia, has been successfully using social media to educate the public about safety around trains. Last year they produced this video called Dumb Ways to Die starring a cast of cute little characters and a catchy tune. And now Melbourne Metro has released a game related to the video's theme. You…
Using Social Media to Curate Information for Feasibility Studies
While I still enjoy books and love going to the library, I have come to favor using the Internet when researching a specific subject. Not only is it easy to find and collect and organize information, but the social media side of it allows me to also get the pulse of the public on that topic….
Edmonton Presents Complete Streets Guidelines
Edmonton will be presenting their Complete Streets Design Guidelines to their council on May 13, 2013. In addition to the Complete Streets document, Edmonton is also introducing the final draft of their Designing New Neighborhoods Guidelines. Both policies complement and support each other. Major cities like Edmonton have developed guidelines like these to help develop…
Try Out Our Stormwater Beta Class!
If you ask public works professionals what are the most common concerns or issues they handle in their community, you will probably hear stormwater or flooding mentioned. So when we thought about developing online courses related to public works, we decided to begin by creating one about this topic. The entire course is still in development, but we have…
Infographic of the Month – May 2013
Yesterday a colleague at work and I were discussing the feasibility of creating infographics to use as exhibits at public meetings for projects. We didn't necessarily think they should be used in place of what is already done, but instead used to enhance understanding of the project. But we could not think of any examples…
Creating a Great Class
Building on the last post, this one goes into more specific detail on what tools a teacher can make use of to create a great class. This means a class that is effective, attractive, and provides a clear path to completion. Rather than use words to convey this information, I made use of a tool I've…
Making Adult Education Attractive
As adults we have so many things competing for our time – kids, work or school, significant others, hobbies, extended families, and friends. So even though there's an enormous amount of online learning material and educational opportunities the challenge is finding the time in our busy lives to take advantage of it all. And even…